Syracuse University SURFACE Theses - ALL May 2014 Structure, paleolimnology and basin history of the East Kivu Graben, Lake Kivu, Rwanda from offshore seismic reflection data Douglas Alan Wood Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/thesis Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Recommended Citation Wood, Douglas Alan, "Structure, paleolimnology and basin history of the East Kivu Graben, Lake Kivu, Rwanda from offshore seismic reflection data" (2014). Theses - ALL. 50. https://surface.syr.edu/thesis/50 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses - ALL by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Abstract: Lake Kivu, located at the topographic high point of the western branch of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, is regularly subjected to large-magnitude seismic events, violent volcanic discharges, and possible limnic eruptions which pose substantial geohazards to the ~two million Congolese and Rwandan people living around its basin. Although most of the western branch of Africa’s Great Rift Valley is amagmatic, Lake Kivu is bordered to the north and south by two volcanic provinces. Subaqueous springs, charged by the active Virunga Magmatic Complex at the north end of the lake, currently inject gas into the deep- hypolimnion, where it remains in solution at high concentrations. Rapid expulsion of these gases into the atmosphere, possibly induced by seismic, meteorologic, or volcanic events, would be devastating to the local population. To assess the potential danger, it is critical to understand the basin’s structure, and the effects of magmatism and climate changes on the lake.